Do you have recurring nightmares such as being chased by wolves, drowning or being attacked?

If so, researchers in Switzerland may be interested in a fascinating new study that shows how playing repetitive noise while a person sleeps not only reduces the frequency of nightmares, but also replaces bad dreams with more pleasant ones.

I have a personal interest in this matter because I have had the same recurring nightmare for years. It involves trying to get somewhere for an urgent appointment and never being able to. Trying to catch a train or plane, I am constantly getting tripped up. I woke up feeling on edge.

My classic anxiety dream when I feel under pressure; Other common occurrences include teeth falling out, being exposed in public, or taking a test you didn’t prepare for.

My classic anxiety dream when I feel under pressure; Other common causes include teeth falling out, being exposed in public, or taking a test for which you are unprepared. But where do such bad dreams come from?

When we first fall asleep, we fall into a deep sleep that is difficult to awaken. And at night, we go into a strange state called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This is when we have our most vivid dreams.

If you look at a person in REM sleep, you will see that under their eyelids, their eyes are rolling madly. No one knows why this happens, but one theory is that it reflects the eye movements when watching a movie.

Dreams have been called the cinema of the mind, so perhaps the eye movements are a sign that we are following the action.

Another strange thing about REM sleep, which begins about 90 minutes after we wake up, is that most of our muscles are paralyzed during it.

What is REM sleep?

REM – or ‘rapid eye movement’ – sleep is one of several sleep cycles our bodies go through each night.

It starts 90 minutes after falling asleep and repeats.

With each successive cycle, longer periods of REM sleep occur.

The level is not limited to rapid eye movements.

REM sleep causes an increased heart rate, paralyzed limbs, wake-type brain waves, and dreams.

Sleep cycle

This happens so that while we are in a wonderful, wonderful dream, we don’t hurt ourselves and don’t get hurt. We continue to take short and shallow breaths, but the only other part of us that moves clearly is our eyes.

One theory is that we have vivid dreams during REM sleep because it’s the only time of day that the parts of the brain that produce anxiety-inducing chemicals are connected.

This means that even though the dreams we had then may be scary or disturbing, they won’t feel as bad as they would if you were awake.

Another very plausible reason for having vivid and disturbing dreams in REM sleep is that this is the time when you can revisit unpleasant memories and events, but stay calm.

The dreams you have during REM sleep allow you to unconsciously process and heal your emotions. Think of dreams as a cheap but effective form of psychotherapy.

But something is wrong with people who experience recurring nightmares. Instead of numbing the feelings created in their dreams, they continue to torment.

And worrying new research suggests that this increases the risk of developing dementia later in life.

The novel findings, published in September in the journal Lancet, are based on a study of more than 3,500 people aged 35 and over.

At the beginning of the study, all participants had to fill out a detailed questionnaire, including how often they had bad dreams. When researchers evaluated the participants ten years later, they found that seniors who reported weekly nightmares were five times more likely to develop dementia than seniors who reported no nightmares. In women, surprisingly, the increase in risk was very low – only 41 percent.

A new study has found that listening to loud noises while a person sleeps not only reduces the frequency of nightmares, but also replaces bad dreams with more pleasant ones.

These findings suggest that either recurrent nightmares are an early sign of a brain disorder, leading to dementia, or that frequent nightmares cause dementia (perhaps by disrupting the brain’s restorative sleep properties).

Dr. Abidemi Otaiku, a neuroscientist at the University of Birmingham who conducted the study, said the good news is that treating nightmares can improve memory and thinking skills and even prevent dementia in some people.

So what can you do to get rid of bad dreams? One thing you don’t have to worry about is eating cheese. This is thought to lead to hallucinations, but researchers at the British Cheese Board found no hallucinations after asking 200 volunteers to eat 20g of different cheeses every night for a week before going to bed (although Stilton eaters reported more dramatic dreams).

A better option is to try imagery exercise therapy, where you revisit your nightmare while you’re awake and imagine an alternative, positive outcome.

For example, if your nightmare involves being attacked by wolves, imagine the dream ending with the wolves turning into cute King Charles Spaniels and snuggling in your lap. If you do this every day for five to ten minutes, in two weeks you should see a drop in how often you experience this nightmare.

But it doesn’t work for everyone and for some the new music technique I mentioned earlier may be a better option.

A study conducted by the University of Geneva in Switzerland asked 38 people who experienced frequent and distressing nightmares to have a positive ending to their nightmares.

As they did so, half of the group listened to a piano melody being played every ten seconds. The idea is to create a connection in their minds between ‘piano chords’ and ‘happy endings’. They did this for two weeks.

All participants were given a sleeping head with electrodes to measure brain activity to take home. By the end of the experiment, everyone reported less frequent nightmares, but the group that listened to the piano music saw the biggest improvements and reported more positive dreams.

The researchers are planning further studies to see if this approach works with severe hallucinations, such as those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Practicing imagery therapy has made my train-carrying anxiety dreams less stressful, but I want to give up the new approach.